Did AIDS patient can share same room with other patient?

[Ilikelemontea]

In my long term care facility, have one AIDS patient who share same room with other old man. I just want to know is that OK?:igtsyt::stdnrsrck:

[Magsulfate, BSN, RN]

Right, as long as they're not having sex or sharing needles it is okay. UNLESS the patient with "AIDS" is so sick that he is immunocompromised. The nurses and doctors can find this out by checking his lab work.

[Penelope_Pitstop, BSN, RN]

Right, as long as they're not having sex or sharing needles it is okay. UNLESS the patient with "AIDS" is so sick that he is immunocompromised. The nurses and doctors can find this out by checking his lab work.

Was this directed at me?

I agree completely. I was actually objecting to the notion that the older gentleman's dementia could contribute to his being infected with the retrovirus. Enough people have brouoght up the neutropenic, "reverse isolation" precautions, I didn't feel it necessary to add.

And yes, in this patient, lab studies are available. I was pertaining to the patients we DON'T know about, who've never been tested for HIV, and the general population of HIV patients who exist even though we don't know who they are (and sometimes they don't know who they are).

If I read too much into your post, I apologize. I've been on days this week and I'm starting nights tonight so I'm exhausted and overly sensitive.

*~Jess~*

[heron, ASN, RN]

I still think is not safe for both patients, it's because the $$$$$$, they put them in the same room. How about that old man confuse one day, use that AIDS patient's razor or other things. who know's?????

OP, I want to echo what other posters have written ... your panic about this is unfounded and, trust me, will communicate itself to the pt. with AIDS, his roomate and the rest of the staff and residents.

To reiterate: The person with AIDS is in far more danger than his roomate. It is difficult to impossible to transmit AIDS any other way than through direct sharing of body fluids. Even a razor with visible blood on it, if it has been exposed to air for more than a couple of minutes, will not transmit live virus. The person with AIDS deserves a private room so YOU don't infect HIM.

As another poster has pointed out, unless the elderly dementia patient is having sex or shooting up drugs with the person with AIDS, he will not get infected.

If your instructor or texts do not give good info on this, go to the CDC website ... it's not like the information isn't readily available and very clear.

Hepatitis B and C have the same transmission characteristics and are much longer lived outside the body and thus much easier to transmit. They will also kill you just as fast as HIV. Do you panic about them, as well?

I'm a little testy on the subject ... as professionals we are supposed to proceed on the basis of evidence ... and we've had this evidence longer than many nursing students have been alive!

OP, do you have any idea the damage that is done when we proceed based on such misinformation?

[Jules A, MSN]

I still think is not safe for both patients, it's because the $$$$$$, they put them in the same room. How about that old man confuse one day, use that AIDS patient's razor or other things. who know's?????

It also could be that they aren't discriminating and isolating someone just because they have HIV or AIDS. Since the OP doesn't seem to know much about either my guess would be that the pt has HIV.

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

]I think that unless the roommate's dementia will cause him to sexually assault or share needles with his HIV-infected roommate, that's not really an issue.

Please re-read the post that I responded to. I wasn't talking about IV drugs or having sex with the AIDS patient...the poster that I responded to made a very good point at picking up a thing like a razor which COULD have blood on it...a patient with dementia isn't going to bother to look, etc.

I understand universal precautions...but the post wasn't asking about the staff interacting with the AIDS patient...you should treat everyone as if they have AIDS.

The other good point that was made was the OP stated that the person was not only HIV+ but had progressed to AIDS...this puts the AIDS patient at greater risk for contracting illnesses, there the roommate with dementia needs to be closely watched for s/sx of illness in order to protect the the patient with AIDS.

I felt that it was a very valid and interesting question and worthy of discussion.

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

This was a nursing student asking a question and I'm guessing a first year since she was in a LTC setting.

I'll be honest....I still have questions and I've been doing this for a while. Rarely do we have HIV pts or AIDS pts in our LTC. A year or so ago, we got one and she also had MRSA, VRE, Hepatitis...I was more worried for her, but was also concerned because of her picking at seeping wounds and blood getting everywhere. Yes, she would have it on her hands, floor, bed, side tables etc and she would share the community cordless phone. (there was no IFC policy for this phone either) Yes...I was glad she was in a private room...for her own protection..(I didn't know her cell counts, and never got a chance to look into most of her hx)

What killed me was when she went out to the hospital, they moved her into a semi private room for a few days....again...it was our lack of infection control policies and lax housekeeping that feared me.

I still think we need more education and can never stop learning.....

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

This was a nursing student asking a question and I'm guessing a first year since she was in a LTC setting.

I'll be honest....I still have questions and I've been doing this for a while. Rarely do we have HIV pts or AIDS pts in our LTC. A year or so ago, we got one and she also had MRSA, VRE, Hepatitis...I was more worried for her, but was also concerned because of her picking at seeping wounds and blood getting everywhere. Yes, she would have it on her hands, floor, bed, side tables etc and she would share the community cordless phone. (there was no IFC policy for this phone either) Yes...I was glad she was in a private room...for her own protection..(I didn't know her cell counts, and never got a chance to look into most of her hx)

What killed me was when she went out to the hospital, they moved her into a semi private room for a few days....again...it was our lack of infection control policies and lax housekeeping that feared me.

I still think we need more education and can never stop learning.....

I was in high school when HIV/AIDS was discovered.

I STILL remember, specifically hearing the Director of the Center of Disease Control on national television saying, "We feel at this time that this is a disease/condition that affects the male population. Women can be carriers, but there is no evidence that they will develop AIDS."

I remember (having no medical knowledge other than high-school Biology)..."How does a virus know a gender?" It didn't make sense to me.

HIV/AIDS is a passion of mine...I too, love to read about all of the advancements and looking forward to the day it is just a memory.

[heron, ASN, RN]

I did read that post ... and I disagree with part of your answer.

You're unlikely to pick up HIV from a razor, even with dried blood on it. It just doesn't live that long on environmental surfaces. Much more likely to get Hep B, which stays viable for a loooong time outside the body. See the CDC website for more info.

I agree it was a question worthy of discussion and it has been. However, I think the discussion should remain based in known facts. HIV still seems to trigger less than rational "what if's" that are then used as reasons for unnecessary and often harmful isolation of the person with AIDS. I say again, unless the elderly man with dementia is having sex or sharing fresh blood directly with the person with AIDS, he is not at risk for contracting HIV. Cross-contamination of environmental objects is a transmission risk for Hep B/C, MRSA, C.Dif, herpes, and so on ... but not HIV.

[Jules A, MSN]

I was in high school when HIV/AIDS was discovered.

And let me just add that "they" knew about it 10 years or so before you saw the announcement. Its my opinion, and I'm not big on conspiracy theories, that there was so little interest in this nasty disease because of the populations it originally seemed to affect. It makes me ashamed to be a human being when I think of this and can only pray that the OP is in the minority when it comes to a lack of accurate information regarding transmission...especially among health care workers.

[ghillbert, MSN, NP]

This was a nursing student asking a question and I'm guessing a first year since she was in a LTC setting.

I disagree - in another post, Ilovelemontea says:

"I'm a chinese nurse... I took the RN exam last month"

Which would lead me to think that she is an RN in another country. I fail to see how someone can graduate a nursing program or attempt NCLEX without at least a basic understanding of HIV transmission. Especially when she said her NCLEX results stated that she was:

"above passing standard: safety and infection control"

[talaxandra]

Rarely do we have HIV pts or AIDS pts in our LTC. A year or so ago, we got one and she also had MRSA, VRE, Hepatitis...I was more worried for her, but was also concerned because of her picking at seeping wounds and blood getting everywhere.

In this case I think any patient/resident, regardless of known status for HIV/Hep B/Hep C/MRSA/VRE, should be isolated. Remember that the only difference between patients/residents diagnosed with HIV etc and the rest of the population is that we know to exercise caution. Any of the opeople we care for pose the same risk.

Regarding the concern about cross-infection from the HIV+ patient to the patient with dementia - why are patients with dementia able to have access to a blade? Wouldn't an electric razor be a better option all around?

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

I did read that post ... and I disagree with part of your answer.

You're unlikely to pick up HIV from a razor, even with dried blood on it. It just doesn't live that long on environmental surfaces. Much more likely to get Hep B, which stays viable for a loooong time outside the body. See the CDC website for more info.

I agree it was a question worthy of discussion and it has been. However, I think the discussion should remain based in known facts. HIV still seems to trigger less than rational "what if's" that are then used as reasons for unnecessary and often harmful isolation of the person with AIDS. I say again, unless the elderly man with dementia is having sex or sharing fresh blood directly with the person with AIDS, he is not at risk for contracting HIV. Cross-contamination of environmental objects is a transmission risk for Hep B/C, MRSA, C.Dif, herpes, and so on ... but not HIV.

I know how HIV is transmitted...no one ever said it had to be dried blood either as no one posted that. I don't need to consult with the CDC website "for more information" when I have been reading/studying it as a hobby for many a year.

We were just tossing around "what if's" and that is what educated people are supposed to do...think about other options. No one is stating that the patient with dementia was at high risk...keyword: dementia...that means you have NO IDEA of what the patient will do with someone in close proximity as the patient that has AIDS has to be asleep sometime.